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M O N D AY, J U N E 12- J U N E 18, 2023
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MoVal school district, feds reach agreement over sex harassment policy
Fallen lawman remembered as ‘damn good deputy,’ selfless
By City News Service
27-year-old Riverside County sheriff’s deputy killed in a crash while on patrol in San Jacinto was remembered Wednesday as a man who “wanted to put others before himself,” a dedicated law enforcement officer willing to take on difficult tasks to do the best job possible. “Never in my worst nightmares did I think I’d be standing in front of another deputy’s family, mourning yet another death in the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Chad Bianco said during a memorial for Deputy Brett Michael Harris. “Brett was one of the good ones, a true friend and a hero. His passing may be something we’ll never be able to understand. It’s to a greater purpose with the Lord.” Hundreds assembled in Grove Community Church in south Riverside Wednesday morning to pay final respects to Harris, who was fatally injured in a collision during the predawn hours of May 12 while responding to a call for backup. Bianco noted that representatives from law enforcement agencies “near and far” were on hand to honor the lawman. “It wasn’t just a job for Brett; it was a calling,” the sheriff said. “He knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. We were lucky to have him.” Bianco said in a final act of selflessness, Harris had, prior to starting his law enforcement career, opted to be an organ donor. Upon his death on May 13, the peace officer’s heart, lungs, kidneys and liver were harvested “so that others may live,” the sheriff said. “It was another example of how he wanted to put others before himself,” he said. Harris’ watch commander Sgt. Jeremy Parsons described
By City News Service
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| Image courtesy of the Montana Office of Public Instruction
See Deputy crash Page 28
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he Val Verde Unified School District will implement a series of policy changes to comply with a federal program intended to address sexual harassment of students and personnel, it was announced Thursday. The district, which operates campuses in Moreno Valley and north Perris, reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education following a probe into Title 9 compliance actions in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years. “Val Verde Unified School District has agreed to address ... Title IX noncompliance regarding sexual harassment, committing now to ensure its students may learn in the safe and nondiscriminatory environment Congress has promised them,” DOE Assistant Secre-
tary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon said. The resolution that the school district signed at the agency’s request requires that anti-discrimination procedures based on Title 9 be utilized; that staff receive training to ensure they understand Title 9, including how to identify and respond to alleged acts of harassment; that records be maintained documenting any Title 9 actions; and that surveys be provided biannually to students and district employees to assess their satisfaction with Title 9 measures. Title 9 was approved by an act of Congress in 1972, with amendments in 2020 that addressed grievance procedures. The law expresses the need for grade schools, colleges and universities to address acts that create
a “hostile environment,” mainly the sexually oriented variety. “We don’t know what inspired the compliance review by the Office of Civil Rights,” VVUSD Superintendent Michael McCormick told City News Service. “It began in 2015, my first year here, and we agreed from the beginning to furnish all documents and meet all of their requests. We very much appreciated the collaborative nature of working with the office.” According to McCormick, despite the alleged past noncompliance with Title 9, all measures prescribed by the state have been followed. He said the federal evaluation was hit-and-miss after the coronavirus public health lockdowns started in 2020, which apparently delayed the Department of
Education’s assessment. He said there was little communication from the department from mid-2020 to the winter of 2023. “The major update to the Title 9 regulations in 2020 may also have had something to do with it,” he said. According to the superintendent, the agency at no time tried to strongarm the district with warnings of a potential loss of federal funding for lack of compliance with Title 9. “Our position is, we’re very much committed to implementing the regulations,” he said. “That’s why we voluntarily signed the resolution agreement.” Meeting the terms of the resolution will require hiring a compliance officer, at an estimated cost of $150,000 per year, according to McCormick.
Parents charged with exposing their 3 children to fentanyl By City News Service
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probationer and his girlfriend accused of exposing their three children to fentanyl, causing one to suffer a medical emergency, are slated to appear for a preliminary hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice later this month to determine whether the charges against them are justified. Kamron Charles Sanders, 31, Joshulyn Denise Penniman, 29, both of Riverside, were arrested earlier this week following a Riverside Police Department investigation that began after one of their children collapsed after ingesting fentanyl. Each defendant is charged with three counts of child cruelty, with sentence-enhancing allegations of inflicting great bodily injury and taking advantage of a position of trust to commit a criminal offense. The pair pleaded not guilty during a joint arraignment Wednesday, after which Riverside County Superior Court See Fentanyl Page 27